Mobile crypto ‘mining’ app presumably related to non-public information leak
Disclaimer: This article has been up to date to incorporate feedback from the Pi Network, which claims that no Vietnamese identification playing cards had been held on its servers.
Pi Network, a cryptocurrency mining app for cellular customers, might have been related to 17GB price of private information leaks, a Vietnamese information outlet reported on Monday.
The treasure trove of private information was apparently taken from the Know Your Customer checks of customers of Pi Network, in line with the one that posted it to hacker hangout RaidForums on Thursday.
The identification playing cards of an estimated 10,000 Vietnamese residents had been positioned on the market, together with related house addresses, cellphone numbers and electronic mail addresses. The vendor positioned a price ticket of $9,000 on the info, payable in both Bitcoin (BTC) or Litecoin (LTC).
Phien Vo, a moderator of a Vietnamese Pi Network group chat channel, informed VnExpress that Pi Network’s KYC checks are carried out by a 3rd celebration, including that Vietnamese identification playing cards like these in query aren’t suitable with the app. However, Vo did point out that an older model of the app was suitable with the playing cards at one level.
“To perform KYC verification on Pi Network, Vietnamese would need to use their passports. Only some users who used earlier versions of Pi could perform KYC verification using their driver licenses, but so far the system has yet to accept Vietnamese identity cards,” Vo stated.
Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security’s cybersecurity division has since launched an investigation into the matter.
An impartial investigation into Pi Network’s perceived worth was not too long ago performed by Cem Dilmegani, a tech entrepreneur and founding father of AIMultiple. Written weeks previous to the current information leak, the evaluation concluded that Pi Network bore the hallmarks of a multilevel advertising and marketing scheme, or an internet online affiliate marketing program.
The Pi app reportedly calls for customers log in day by day and click on a button to obtain their PI cash. No blockchain consensus algorithm, like proof-of-work or proof-of-stake, is used within the app, and customers can achieve elevated mining charges by referring different folks. The PI token just isn’t but traded on exchanges and has no greenback worth.
The app reportedly sells information for promoting income from the second its utilization begins. Given that advert house can promote for the next worth with private consumer information included, many have been led to invest that the Pi app is designed solely to siphon personally figuring out info from its customers.
Cointelegraph reached out to a Pi Network spokesperson for remark. Justin Wu, of Pi Network’s advertising and marketing and development group, reiterated that the app’s KYC was carried out by a 3rd celebration, and that no Vietnamese identification playing cards had been held on Pi Network’s servers. Wu added that an inside examine didn’t uncover any proof of an information leak. Wu stated Pi Network’s referral program was like others within the cryptocurrency house, and is simply meant to incentivize the participation of household and buddies.
